Contents

About the course

All Physics course participants undertake areas of study in:

Learning, Teaching and Assessment in Physics: The OAKS course is built upon Physics in the National Curriculum, the Standards for the award of Qualified Teacher Status and the needs of Trainee Teachers, pupils and schools. Physics sessions will essentially look at ways of teaching Physics content through the 11-18 age range. Typical topics for Physics sessions include:

o Safety and risk assessment in the science laboratory; working with a technician

o Producing resources and getting students to prepare their own resources to make progress through keys and classification

o Assessment for Learning (AFL) through the medium of the changes of state, energy transfers and efficiency

o Modelling Physics through practical demonstrations and through student-initiated modelling in the context of electrical current, circuits and forces.

o Developing students mathematical skills through the equations of motion, Velocity-Time and Displacement-Time graphs and Newton’s Laws.

o Developing collaborative learning practices through the

topic of Earth, Space and The Solar System.

o Revisit models to overcome barriers to learning with more difficult concepts in Physics.

o Developing practical skills and students abilities to take precise measurements in support of their investigations into a Physical phenomenon.

o The Physics of waves – The Electromagnetic Spectrum, Properties of Light and Sound and the Wave Equation.

o Exam technique – how do we prepare our students for the exam?

An important part of the course is learning how to create a stimulating and caring environment. To help create such an environment, you need to be enthusiastic and lessons need to be well planned and related to the needs of pupils. They need to be conducted in a well-organised way with a positive approach to control. You will be able to prepare in advance for handling different situations since strategies for maintaining discipline and managing the learning in a Physics laboratory are considered and discussed.

These sessions are delivered by a Physics Subject Expert in Schools, therefore you are required to travel to Stafford for the delivery of these sessions.

Interview process

Our selection process is a two way process where you can find out if the OAKS is the training programme for you and we can decide if you can potentially become a good/outstanding secondary teacher. We always carry out our interviews in one of our partnership schools, where you will be expected to teach either a class or a small group of their students for 15 minutes. The students give us feedback on your lesson, which we share with you during a formal interview. This focuses on your lesson, your subject knowledge and your commitment to teach. There are also several tasks for you to complete; these include a written subject specific activity, trial skills tests (unless you have already passed your literacy/numeracy) and a generic writing task. The whole process should take no more than half a day at the school. You are interviewed by Partnership School staff and OAKS tutors, who will talk through the programme and school placements. There will always be plenty of time for you to ask questions and the decision as to whether you are accepted on to the course is usually made on the same day (this may vary depending on the subject/time of year).

We want the interview to be a very positive experience for you; please arrive promptly and formal dress is expected. We look forward to meeting you!

How school placements work

We will send you to two secondary schools where you will receive an 11-16 experience; the time spent in both of these placements is the same. Hopefully they will give you two very different experiences; one maybe in a small town or rural setting the other could be inner city. We make sure that you also receive a pre and post phase enhancement so you will be placed in a primary school for one week and gain experience in a post-16 environment (possibly in one of your secondary placements). We are very proud of our alternative education placements that we arrange for you on our programme. Hopefully you will gain experience in an EAL school, pupil referral unit (PRU), special school and maybe an independent school.

Travel to and from your placements is always a key concern and we make every effort to make sure that you can easily commute to your schools. We have a very large partnership in over five counties; one will have schools close to you. We guarantee that you will never have to travel more than 75 minutes. In fact, most of our trainees travel well under an hour to their teaching experiences. When we visit our EAL schools we put on mini buses so nothing could be simpler.

Many of you will have applied to one of our 5 hubs (geographical zones); this usually dictates the schools that you will be placed in. Through evaluations all of our partnership schools are deemed to be at least "very good training experiences" for our trainee teachers. We train and then monitor all of our school based mentors and the quality of our school’s provision annually; so rest assured that you will have a good teaching experience with us at the OAKS.

Fees

The course fees for 2019/2020 are as follows:

Student type

Fees to pay

UK students

£9,250

EU students

£9,250

With The OAKS there is a pre-course fee which covers

Enhanced DBS check

Fitness to teach

Purchasing of Bristol Guide (reduced cost from The OAKS)

Residential trip.

In 2018/9 the total price for the above was £111, at this moment in time we are unable to confirm the price for 2019/20, but do not foresee this increasing dramatically.

Financial support

You could be eligible for either:

a scholarship of £28,000

a bursary of £26,000

To qualify for a scholarship you’ll need a degree of 2:1 or above in Physics or a related subject. For a bursary you’ll need a 2:2 or above in any subject.

You can’t claim both a bursary and a scholarship - you can only claim one.

Requirements

Qualifications

achievement of at least a 2:2 and preferably a 2:1 honours degree (or recognised equivalent);

passes at GCSE in English Language and Mathematics at grade C or above (or recognised equivalent)

successful completion of the National College for Teaching and Leadership Professional Skills Tests in Literacy and Numeracy;

successful completion of a minimum of 10 days teaching experience in a secondary school/college during the last two years. This could be either before or after selection (undertaking this before the selection process commences will strengthen your application).

Personal qualities

Highly motivated individuals who want to make a positive contribution to the education of young people.

Trainees who are passionate about their own specialism subject, with very good subject knowledge.

Who are able to inspire their learners and create an environment where everyone wants to succeed.

Candidates that show enthusiasm and a willingness to participate in the all aspects of the training course.

Robust, resilient applicants who want to make a difference in the classroom.

People who want to become good or outstanding classroom practitioners, with a desire to improve themselves and their student's.

Other requirements

a medical report which is deemed satisfactory;

a completed DBS enhanced disclosure which is deemed satisfactory by the The OAKS;

a successful completion of a minimum of 10 days teaching experience in a secondary school/college during the last two years. This could be either before or after selection (undertaking this before the selection process commences will strengthen your application).

About the training provider

The OAKS is an Ofsted Outstanding (2016) and innovative SCITT (School Centred Initial Teacher Training programme) which links Keele University and OAT (Ormiston Academies Trust) with a long established partnership of schools in five local authorities: Staffordshire, Stoke on Trent, Shropshire, Birmingham and Cheshire.

The OAKS course is based in the beautiful green campus of Keele University and all trainees will qualify with a Keele University PGCE and QTS from The OAKS.

You are important to us and many support structures are in place for this challenging, but very rewarding course. It is our aim to produce highly motivated, creative, successful and reflective teachers. Such teachers, we know, will be in great demand both in the local region and nationally.

You will be placed in two placements, where you will put theory into practice. In addition, The OAKS also gives you the opportunity to observe teaching in alternative educational settings such as EAL, PRU, Special and Independent Schools.

Programme Data from 2017/8 across all our hubs:

93% successfully completed the programme, of which

92% of our trainees gained employment

98% of the cohort achieved ‘outstanding’ or’ good’

Training with disabilities and other needs

We have a dedicated support tutor, who supports our trainees with disability or any other need. It is important to state that they do not assess your teaching performance, this gives you the opportunity to speak honestly about your needs, but also enables the support tutor to have the freedom to help you and visit you; whether you are in placement school or here at The OAKS. This includes signposting through to developing individualised learning plans which may extend beyond the course date to enable you to successfully complete the programme.

Support and advice

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